Apparatus for cooling liquids



July l5, 1952 A. G. Bl-:RwlcK APPARATUS FOR COOLING LIQUIDS 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 23, 1948 I7 l 141.55m' .GEORGE BER wien,

Inventor Attorney July 15, 1952 A. G. BERWICK 2,603,072

`APPARATUS FOR COOLING LIQUIDS Filed` Aug. 25, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 "M1- N .xv N 5 i u if N N .u l 1N ACV Attorney July l5 1952 A. G. BERwlcK 2,303,072

APPARATUS FOR COOLING LIQUIDS Filed Aug. 23, 1948 l 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 L nvenior 171. aenrsoses Bmw/4K.

Attorney Patented July 15, 1952 APPARATUS FOR COOLING LIQUIDS Albert George Berwick, London, Englandfas? Y signor, by .mesne assignments, to Gaskell &

Chambers Limited, Birmingham, corporation of Great Britain England, a

Application Augustza, 1948,Seria1N0f4a6/26 I In Great Britain August 27, 1947 This invention relates to apparatus for coolin liquids and has for its object `to provide an improved construction or arrangementapplieable to Such purposes as` thecooling of water for direct supply to apparatus for dispensing soft drinks, the improved apparatus being of a compact form and capable of very rapidly adjusting itself to a predetermined temperature level irrespective of the quantity of liquid passed through it during any one operation or series of operations of the device in conjunction with which it is used.

According to the invention the improved liquid coolingr apparatus comprisesa Sealed brine or like tank, two flat spiral coils the one for the circulation 'of liqueed gas andthe other for the passage of water to be cooled disposed in `closely parallel positions within the: tank, and a thermo- Static controldevice disposed within and sealed from the said tank and arranged adjacentthe water inlet. 1

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings which Show apparatus `constructed according to the invention and in which:

Fig. l is an elevation of a Cooling unit, partly in section,

Fig. 2 is a sectional plan of the cooling unit taken on the line II-II of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of the cooling unit taken on the line III-III of Fig. 2,

Fig. 4 is anjelevation of an apparatus for dispensing soft drinks embodying a cooling unit according to the invention, and

Fig. 5 is an elevation of another form of soft drink dispensing apparatus. i, y

Referring first to Figs. 1 3, the cooling unit comprises a cylindrical tank l whose diameter is substantially greater than its depth. This tank is adapted to contain brine and within it are disposed two spiral coils 2 and 3, the coil 2 serving for the circulation of a liquefied gas such as ammonia or methyl chloride capable of acting as a, refrigerant, and the second coil 3 serving for the passage of water to be cooled. The two coils 2 and 3 are arranged in closely adjacent parallel positions, as shown in Figs. l and 3 within the tank I Whose volume approximates as closely as possible to the space occupied by the two coils for the purpose of reducing the quantity of brine employed to the minimum. After installation of the coils 2 and 3 and iilling with brine, the tank I is hermetically sealed for the purpose of preventing evaporation of water from the brine and also of excluding air from the tank which would otherwise tend to promote corrosion of the coils.

- 'Ihe'refrigerantenters the cooling lunit through a pipe 4, expansion valve` 5 and a terminal portion 6 of the coil 2, whichV occupies a position tangential to the outermost turn of thecoil. The refrigerant leaves the coil 2 through a `second terminal tangential portion I connected to'a pipe 8 leadingto a condenser-compressor unit, which being of known` type will not be described yin detail.

The water supply to the cooling unit is through a pipe 9 which is connected to a tangential terminal portion I0at oneend of the. coil 3 and the cooled water leaves this coil through a tangential terminal portion II whose 'end is connected to a delivery pipe I2 which extends upwards through a .tubular support I3r (Fig. '3)

for the dispensing '"apparatus, the said tubular support being'iixed to the cover I4 of an outer casing within Winch'theV coming unitaria its supply connections are housed.

-As shown `in Fig.v 2, the inlet portions and I0 of the two coils :2 and a3 are arranged so that the direction Vof flow is the same in both.v These inlet pipes for liqueed gas and Water are `arranged side by side which has the advantage that the gas, before it has taken up'heat, comes into contact by conductionv with water :direct from supply and commences to cool it. f

To .control the operation of the cooling runit a thermostat element I 5A is tted'into a socket Ifprojecting inwards from the wall of the tank l-'but'sealed from communication: with the -rinterior of the tank.A -The socket It Vis'situated immediately'adjacent thewater inletfv l0 as shown in Fig. 2, so zthat incoming relativelyl vwarm Water affects the thermostat element limmediately to cause closure of an electrical circuit to set the motor of the compressor unit in operation. `The thermostat element I5 is connected by a, capillary tube I'I with the switch operating thermostat component disposed in a casing I8 externally of the tank I and arranged to start or stop the compressor driving motor according to the thermal conditions prevailing within the tank. A condenser for the gas is employed of a capacity to enable fresh water to flow continuously, if required, through the coil 3 and the required temperatureof output to be maintained.

The cooling unit above described is disposed within an outer casing i9 Whose dimensions are substantially greater than those of the tank around which it extends and Within the casing is disposed a nlling 20 of heat insulating material, such as cork, which extends above and below and around all sides of the tank I. The casing has in Fig. 4. The base of the cabinet houses therefrigerant reservoir, the compressor, motor and condenser and supported above the cabinet is the apparatus for dispensing soft drinks which comprises two reservoirs 24 from which depend devices 25 for delivering measured quantities all as described in the speciiication of our prior patent application Serial Number 188,550, which has matured into Patent No. 2,201,808 granted May 21, 1940. Valves 26 operated by the push-up mechanism 21 allow cooled water to flow from the coil 3 through pipe I2 within the supporting standard I3 to supply the correct quantity of cooled water to dilute the measured quantity of essence or the like withdrawn from `one of the reservoirs 24,l to make a soft drink.

`Another arrangement embodying the invention is shown in Fig. 5.l This arrangement being designed for installation on a bar or counter only the cooling unit illustrated in Figs. 1-3 is enclosed within the casing 28 above which is supported the dispensing apparatus including the reservoirs 24. The refrigerant reservoir, the compressor, motor and condenser are housed beneath the bar or counter or in any otherl convenient position separate from the casing 28.

In both arrangements shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the cooled water is drawn direct from the coil 3 inthe tank I, the only connection subject to atmospheric heating influence being the short length of pipe I 2 which passes through the standard I3 supporting the dispensing apparatus. This connection I2 holds so small an amount of water that its influence on the first quantity drawn is negligible.

I claim:

l. A liquid cooling apparatus comprising a sealed tank, two flat spiral coils, one for the circulation ofliquied gas and the other for the passage of water to be' cooled, disposed in generallyv parallel'relatively closely spaced substantial planes within the tank, and a thermostatic control device disposed Within and sealed from the tank and arranged adjacent to the Water inletinto said water passage coil, wherein the two coils are substantially coaxial of a common axis,

'and the inlets for refrigerant and water are disposed in substantial adjacency within the said tank tangential in the same direction to the respective coils and in general alignment in a line parallel to the common axis of the coils for the purpose of enabling the gas, before it has taken upbeat, to come into contactby conduction with water from supply and commence to cool it.

2. A liquid cooling apparatus comprising a tank, two at spiral coils of which one is for water and the other is for a liquied gas, said coils disposed in substantially vertical alignment generally parallel relatively closely spaced substantial planes within the tank, the respective inlet ends oi' the respective coils being respectively tangent to the coils and passing out of the tank in general vertical alignment so that the incominglwarm water in one inlet is juxtaposed to the incoming gas in the other to initiate quick cooling of the Water, said tank being of cylindrical form of substantially greater diameter than depth, a casing within which the said tank is disposed, a body of heat insulating material completely surrounding the said tank within the casing and a free space along one side of the casing to accommodate the inlet refrigerant and water supply connections -in'said free space.

3. A liquid cooling apparatus comprising a hermetically sealed brine tank, two flat spiral coils, one for the circulation of refrigerant and the other for the passage of water disposed in closely parallel positions within said tank, a casing surrounding said tank, heat insulating material completely surrounding said tank within the casing, tangential inlet portions of said coils disposed in generally vertical adjacency on-the same side of the respective coils within the tank, a thermally sensitive element disposed adjacent the water inlet within said tank, a socket enclosing said element sealed from the interior of the tank, a wall in the casing forming a chamber within the casing to accommodate the inlet and outlet connections and a thermostatic control device connected to said thermal element.`

ALBERT GEORGE BERWICK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

